


Scars

by xsticknoodlesx



Series: A Family Of My Own (Chainshipping Family Shots) [11]
Category: Saw (Movies)
Genre: Adam Faulkner-Stanheight Lives, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Crying, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Happy Ending, I promise, Implied/ Referenced Parental Death, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Men Crying, Other: See Story Notes, Post-Canon, References to Depression, Scars, See Notes For Possible Triggers, Triggers, self-harm scars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:46:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27763213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xsticknoodlesx/pseuds/xsticknoodlesx
Summary: Diana finds some scars on Adam's wrists. Despite his insistence to not talk about it, she asks Lawrence. The doctor sits them down for a talk.*Can be read as a stand-alone*
Relationships: Adam Faulkner-Stanheight/Lawrence Gordon, Diana Gordon & Adam Faulkner-Stanheight, Diana Gordon & Lawrence Gordon
Series: A Family Of My Own (Chainshipping Family Shots) [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1999132
Comments: 21
Kudos: 28





	Scars

**Author's Note:**

> So this was a request from one of my commenters. Sadly they're not on AO3 or at least didn't comment with their account if they have one. Thus I cannot tag them. But the guest name they used was "willtherealMajorTompleasestandup?". So to that person: _Thank you for this great idea! I hope you like it and it's what you expected. If not, I'm really sorry. And I'm sorry it took a few days/weeks to upload this._ Enjoy ^^
> 
>  **Warning** This story contains depictions of self-harm scars and discussions of past self-harm, as well as Adam's reasons for doing so (It contains past parental death, bullying and depression). If that triggers you, please proceed with caution. Stay safe <3
> 
> Also, this may clash with the story of them going to the pool because you may think Lawrence would have noticed the scars before but it's briefly explained in the chapter. Also, this is a stand-alone esque one-shot.

Adam nearly jumped out of his skin when Diana opened the door to the master bedroom and just came inside. As soon as she saw Adam, only in sweatpants and about to put on a shirt, she apologized and started to back out. Then she stopped, eyes focused on his arms, face scrunched up in confusion.

“What’s up?” Adam asked, confused as to what was going on. “Do you need anything? Your Daddy’s downstairs, doing the laundry.”

“What’s that on your arm?”

Adam was confused for only a second before he froze. He knew exactly what Diana was talking about. Swallowing, he quickly slipped his shirt on and shook his head.

“Nothing you need to worry about.”

Diana shook her head and approached, grabbing Adam’s hand and inspected his scarred left wrist. She wondered why she was only now noticing Adam’s hurt wrist but then again the scars weren’t that deep and not too noticeable. Adam also liked to wear wristwatches or bracelets made from leather. Diana kept inspecting his arm before looking up.

“Do you need a bandaid? Did you get hurt?”

Adam swallowed and shook his head. “No, it’s old wounds. I don’t need a bandaid.”

“Daddy needs to see! He’s a doctor.” Diana proclaimed. “Come on, Dad. We gotta tell Daddy!”

“Diana, we don’t need to tell your daddy, okay?” Adam crouched down. “It’s really hard to explain but- well, just forget about it, okay? And please don’t tell Lawrence.”

“Why can’t I tell him?”

“Because he gets worried over small things and I don’t want him to worry.”

“But you’re hurt. He should worry if you’re hurt.”

“Well, a scar is an old wound that’s been healed over. Like my shoulder or the scar on your knee from falling from the tree when you were little. You can still see it, right? But it doesn’t bleed and you don’t have to wear a bandaid on it, right?”

“Right.”

“So we don’t have to tell your Daddy, okay?”

“I guess.”

\---

But Diana didn’t keep it a secret; she just couldn’t. She was worried about Adam because he was clearly hurt. And he’d been acting weird when she’d confronted him. Even at such a young age, she knew something wasn’t right. Children could tell if people were deceiving them and so could Diana.

“Daddy?”

Lawrence looked up and put down the laundry basket. “Yes, sweetheart?”

“Can I talk to you?”

“Of course.” Lawrence nodded and gently picked Diana up to sit her down on the washing machine. “What’s up? Did you come to help me with the laundry?”

Diana chuckled at her father’s joke. “No!”

“Then what’s up?”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Yes.”

“Why does Adam have scars on his wrist?” She whispered out. “He told me it’s fine and they are very old but I’m scared that he’s hurt and needs help. You’re a doctor. Can you help him?”

Lawrence's face fell as he heard Diana talked. If she was implying what he thought she was, there was definitely a reason to be worried. Not only had Adam been cutting himself but he’d kept it a secret. Guilt washed over Lawrence because even if the wounds were old, he’d never spotted them – and the two men had been very close in the last few months, spending a lot of time together and being intimate.

“How do you know about them, Diana?”

“I saw them on accident.” She mumbled quietly. “Am I in trouble?”

“No, sweetheart, of course not. But we need to talk to Adam about it.”

“No!” Diana shook her head, looking up with teary eyes. “Adam told me not to tell you! He’ll be angry at me!”

“He won’t.” Lawrence said softly. “But this is serious we need to talk to Adam about it, or more like I need to talk to him about it.”

“No, I want to come.” Diana insisted. “Will Adam not be angry that I told you?”

“Adam would never be angry at you, sweetheart.” Lawrence said and picked Diana up. “Come on. Do you know where he is?”

“Doing the photo thing where he puts them in water.”

“In the darkroom?”

“Yes.”

Lawrence nodded and sat Diana down before taking her hand. Within a few seconds, they were at the darkroom and Lawrence knocked on the door. Adam was out within a few seconds, smiling a little at the two people outside.

“What’s up?”

“Would you come and sit down with us in the kitchen, please.”

“Uh, why?”

“There’s something we should discuss.” Lawrence said softly. “Please?”

“Sure.”

Adam followed the two of them downstairs, a little concerned as to what was going on. Once in the kitchen, they sat down at the table and Lawrence eyes Adam. And as the doctor’s moved down to focus on Adam’s forearms, the photographer knew what was up. He heaved a sigh and looked at his boyfriend.

“Larry, I’m fine.”

“Adam, this is something we need to talk about.”

“No, we really don’t. They’re old, okay? And how do you even know?” Adam sighed and rubbed his face. “Did Diana tell you?”

The girl looked at the table, not meeting Adam’s eyes. “Are you angry at me now?”

“No, sweetie.” Adam shook his head and leaned forward to look at Diana. “Di, I would never be angry at you. You’re just worried but neither of you has to be.”

“Adam, we do.” Lawrence said sternly. “Self-harm is a serious thing.”

“I don’t do that anymore. I really-”

“Self?” Diana whispered. “Did you do that to yourself? Why?”

Adam felt tears rising in his eyes as he tried to explain this to Diana. “Sometimes, people do that to- to deal with negative feelings and- but it’s not- you shouldn’t do that to deal with those feelings. It helped for a little but made it worse in the end. I stopped, okay?”

“Why did you do that?” Diana asked, her eyes teary and wide. “Why were you so sad, Adam? When were you so sad?”

Adam sighed softly but he couldn’t keep the tears at bay anymore. All he could do was try and wipe against the onslaught of them. “When I was about fourteen my dad died. And- and I missed him so much, I was so sad. My mother had to- she had to pick up more shifts and do so much to keep us fed. She was rarely home, never there for us anymore. I don’t blame her of course, but- but it was so hard.”

“I’m so sorry.” Lawrence said and reached out to hold Adam’s hands. “I had no idea that happened to you, love. And I am so sorry you had to go through that. Is that what made you resort to self-harm?”

“No- I mean yes- I mean, sort of. It definitely contributed to it. My dad was dead, my mother wasn’t paying any attention to us anymore and my brother was- he was just as bad off and didn’t really try to help.”

“Did you ask anyone for help?”

“My brother.” Adam sobbed out quietly. “But- but he sent me away. He was devastated, too. And- and I felt so alone like I had no one. Those dumb, immature kids at school bullied me for being so depressed and for my mother never coming to school plays anymore. It was that one girl and her friends that were the worst. I eve fu- freaking talked to my teacher like a snitch but she didn’t help at all!”

“Adam-“

Adam was getting riled up now, spewing out all the things that had hurt him, made him hurt himself and he was bawling his eyes out doing so, sobbing and gasping for air. Lawrence was staring, letting Adam rant but worried about his state.

“I really tried, okay? I tried to get over it but my dad was my- he was my dad. He’d always been there for me and now he was gone! I couldn’t talk to anymore. My teachers didn’t take me seriously, the kids at school were bullying me, my brother was ignoring me, my damn friends were only kids, too and I couldn’t ask my mother. She- she had so much to do.”

“Adam.” Lawrence interrupted, rubbing Adam’s hands gently. “You need to breathe, love. You’re upset and it’s okay to cry but you need to breathe evenly.”

Adam took a few shaking breaths before wiping his eyes. “Sorry, I- Di, I’m sorry I got to worked up and sad.”

Diana shook her head, sniffling quietly. “You were so sad as a kid. I- I don’t know what I would do without Daddy! I don’t- is that why you hurt yourself?”

“Yes, but I stopped. So you don’t have to worry about me, okay?”

“Can I hug you?”

“Of course.”

Diana slid off her father’s lap and shuffled over to Adam who accepted her hug with open arms. Once she was in his lap, she clung to his neck and continued crying. Adam felt bad now and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

“It’s okay, Di. I’m fine. Please don’t cry.”

Diana shook her head. “You were so sad. I don’t like you being sad.”

“I know.” Adam said softly and rested his head on her shoulder. “But I’m fine.”

“Sure?”

“Yes.”

“Sure?” Lawrence asked. “It’s good that you talked about it but you should talk about it to Dr Johansson.”

“Don’t you think our therapist has enough to worry about when we come around?” Adam joked but stopped at Lawrence’s stern glance. “I’ll talk to her about it.”

“Good.” Lawrence nodded. “But Adam, these scars are old, right? Or are there new ones there?”

“No.” Adam promised. “Back when my father died I was alone. Now I’m not alone anymore and that alone helps so much.”

At that, Lawrence relaxed. “That’s good. I love you, I hate seeing you so sad.”

“Me, too!” Diana exclaimed before leaning back to look at Adam. “Dad, please don’t hurt yourself anymore. I don’t want you to get hurt or- or to die or-“

“Di, look at me please.” Adam said softly and waited for the girl to do so before continuing. “I’m fine now, okay? Those scars are from over ten years ago and I’m fine now. I won’t hurt myself anymore. I’m doing better.”

Diana sniffled quietly and nodded. “Okay.”

She then took Adam’s left hand and examined his wrist, tracing her fingers over the scares. Then she got up and hurried off to the pantry. Adam watched as she pulled out a packet of her kitten bandaids and returned. He was about to decline because they were old scars but when he saw her determined face, he shut his mouth again. Diana then climbed back into her stool and proceeded to tape a few of the bandaids onto Adam’s wrist before dreaming her work done.

“Better?”

“Yes, thank you.” Adam said and smiled. “Diana, I don’t want you to worry for me, okay? I’m fine and you’re a little girl that shouldn’t worry about me.”

“You’re my dad! I worry about my dads!”

“But please now about this. I’m fine.”

“Okay.”

Lawrence eyed the two of them and smiled. “Diana, you would make a great doctor, you know?”

She smiled at that and nodded. “Yes, but I want to become a pet doctor.”

“A vet?” Adam asked in interest. “Oh, too bad I don’t have a pet! But once you’re a doctor I’ll get one just to visit you.”

“That’s a weird idea.” Lawrence chuckled.

Diana nodded. “Adam’s silly.”

“Silly?” Adam faked shock before laughing at Diana’s grin. “I guess I am.”

“You are!” She insisted and hugged him. “But I still like you! I’m glad you’re Daddy’s boyfriend.”

“And I’m glad you’re Larry’s daughter.”

“And I’m glad to have you two.” Lawrence said and stood up, despite Adam’s eye roll. He walked around to embrace the two of them. “I love you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, I hope you liked it despite the sad subject matter. Please stay safe and healthy ^^


End file.
